Notes From The Underground Kutztown U. Prof Finds A New World In An Ancient Cave Cave Offers Kutztown U. Professor View Of A New World

March 04, 1986|by RANDY KRAFT, The Morning Call

Doc Dougherty was alone in the cave with only a small disposable flashlight.

He planned to just go a short distance, so he could yell to the Indian guide waiting outside if he got into trouble. The Indian wouldn't go beyond the entrance because he said there were tigers inside.

But Dougherty was "drawn irresistibly forward" into the gargantuan passageway. He had been in hundreds of caves, but never saw anything this big.

He knew it was risky, even foolish, to continue. He was breaking the rules to explore an underground wilderness. A mixture of fear and discretion tried to hold him back, but curiousity pulled him on. He couldn't believe the huge passage could go any farther.

The cave entrance was a great vertical slash in the rock face with boulders at its base. Dougherty had been skeptical about what he'd find inside, because he had seen huge entrances on small caves before. But the passageway was even bigger than the entrance - 40 to 50 feet wide and at least 80 feet high.

Dougherty and the guide had hacked their way through a stretch of uninhabited Central American jungle with machetes to reach the cave. And there was no evidence at the entrance or inside that anyone had been there before. Anycaver's biggest thrill is to be in "virgin passage."

It was exhilarating. All his senses were heightened. Except for an occasional drip of water, it was so quiet that he could hear his own heart beating.

After a couple hours, the flashlight began getting dim. If it went out, Dougherty figured he could just feel his way back along a wall. He stopped only after reaching a terraced section that would have required climbing. When he left the cave that day, he knew he would return.

Later this month, Dr. Percy H. Dougherty, a 42-year-old Kutztown University geology professor who lives in Lower Macungie Township, will return for his fifth visit to the cave he first walked through alone three years ago. He probably was the first modern man to explore the cave, which is one of the longest in the world and contains what he hopes soon will be recognized as one of the world's 10 largest cave chambers.

The cave is in the southern interior of Belize, a country located on the east coast of Central America.

Many people - including cavers Dougherty has persuaded to go with him on his expeditions and even some travel agents - never heard of Belize. More are familiar with the name British Honduras, which is what Belize was called before it gained independence from Britain in 1981. It's about the size of New Jersey.

Getting to the caves involves flying to Belize, then a cross-country trip in an old North American school bus, a 15-mile ride over dirt roads in the back of a pick-up truck, and finally a 5-mile canoe trip. With luck, the whole journey can be made in two days.

When Dougherty made his first visit in March 1983, he did not go to find caves. While teaching at Ohio University he decided to join a group of professors and students on a field trip to Belize. He said the country has a great diversity of people and landforms, plus a rich Mayan history that interested him.

During that visit, Indians took some members of the group upriver in mahogany dugout canoes from the village where they were staying. "We just wanted to see the jungle," said Dougherty. "We expected to see Tarzan swing across the river at any moment."

He noticed the river water had a greenish tint, like the color of water in limestone quarries in the Lehigh Valley, and that the jungle floor was covered with karren - sharp limestone rock that makes walking difficult.

He knew caves were farther north on the Yucatan Peninsula, so he asked one of the Indians if any were in the area. He was told the river they were on came out of one. "We had to pay him a few extra dollars to show us where the river started." That cave - called Mucbe, which means beginning of the river - wasn't too impressive. Most of the river's water bubbled out of huge springs (resurgences) in a lagoon outside the cave.

One of the Indians said another cave was a short distance away. Dougherty had a flashlight with him because the village where he was staying did not have electricity. The others stayed behind while he and the Indian guide made their way back to Hich Tulz - Tiger Cave - for the first time.

During Dougherty's second visit, cat paw prints about 3 1/2 inches long were found a quarter mile inside the cave, as far as he had gone alone the first time. He believes the prints were from a mountain lion. "That was a little bit sobering. When the Indian said tiger, I thought he meant an overgrown pussycat." The prints, which were not very old, made him feel even more foolish for making that first trip alone.

Initial mapping of Tiger Cave show it is bigger and more grandiose than Dougherty ever imagined when he first set foot inside. He has led small teams of volunteers that haveexplored and mapped about four miles of the cave. They've still not seen all of it.